November 12, 2014

A selection of ten smoky blends and stuff

Have you noticed that they seem to be adding more peaters to their new blends – again? Are the good old days back?

McGibbon's ‘Premium Reserve’ (43%, Douglas Laing, blend, golf bag decanter, +/-2014)

One of these old-school bottlings that are supposed to appeal to golfers. Apparently, it’s been recently relaunched. Colour: deep gold. Nose: starts rather earthy and malty, there seems to be a little ‘something’ in this one. Some wet chalk, grass, then more chestnuts and whiffs of raw wool, as well as overripe apples. A smokiness. We’re rather far from rounded and polished blends. Mouth: good malty presence and rather more peat than expected. I’d call this a peaty blend. A feeling of young Talisker, perhaps? Then roasted nuts, smoked tea, more malt and, again, a chalkiness. Then bitter oranges. Nice mouth feel, some personality. Finish: quite long, peaty, slightly salty. Salty apple crumble. Comments: a very pleasant surprise despite the rather strange bottle. Probably high malt content. SGP:452 - 81 points.

SIA (43%, Douglas Laing for Spirit Imports USA, blend, 2014)

A brand new brand of blended Scotch, ‘created specifically to appeal to a modern palate’ according to the brand’s website. Not too sure my palate’s modern, let’s see… Colour: gold. Nose: rather lighter and more floral than the McGibbon’s at first nosing, but there are obvious similarities. Overripe apples, grass and barley, vanilla, a handful of fresh almonds and then a rather grassy smoke. Garden bonfire. Mouth: once again, this is a slightly lighter version of the McGibbon’s. Certainly a smoky blend, also with cakes and pastries, some grass, some tea and a coastal limy side. I mean, a limy coastal side. Touches of custard and honey and overripe apples again. Good body. Finish: medium length, with a sweeter smokiness. Comments: carefully composed, probably a good pre-malt. It’s got something Compassboxy, if I may. SGP:442 - 81 points.

A propos…

Great King Street 'Glasgow Blend' (43%, Compass Box, 2014)

A brand new composition bearing 67% malt, including CB’s favourites, namely Clynelish and Laphroaig. Colour: white wine. Nose: indeed, we aren’t very far, this is just fresher and cleaner, zestier, probably more distillate-led, in a way. Lemon, peat smoke, seawater, a little pepper, the expected waxy side, some paraffin perhaps, oysters, seaweed, antiseptic… I do not get much of the grain, and you know what, I won’t complain. Mouth: oily start, with lemon juice, pepper, salt and smoke. Oyster juice, lemon curd, grapefruits, zests, kippers… Very classic. Reminds me a bit of the better Islay Mists, with more oomph. Finish: medium length, very clean, zesty, whistle-clean, concise and precise. Nice smoky signature, with a faint clean meatiness. Comments: obvious success. I guess they could have called this Laphnish or Clynephroaig. I know, I know… Apologies! SGP:554 - 85 points.

Johnnie Walker 21 yo ‘XR’ (40%, OB, blend, decanter, +/-2014)

This baby was created ‘in honour of Sir Alexander Walker’s knighthood in 1920.’ According to the good people at Master of Malts, the master blenders have dared adding some Brora to this composition. Grrr… I hope they have bodyguards! Colour: amber. Nose: it’s rather a leafy smoke that arises this time – granted, it’s less ‘peaty’ than all the previous ones – together with some tobacco (newly opened box of Cubans), a little cedar wood that comes with the cigars, some toffee, marmalade and raisins, then more and more coastal notes, possibly the Brora heritage. Around dried kelp, add one anchovy in brine. I find this nose very complex, and yet it does not seem to lack coherence and definition. A little camphor and menthol arising after two minutes. Mouth: it’s really a smoky Johnnie Walker. A kind of Double Black with more depth and less immediate creamy oak, perhaps. Maraschino. I find the arrival quite beautiful, even firm, sadly the low strength tends to dismantle it, in a way, rather leaving a bitter smokiness on your tongue after five seconds. Chlorophyll and black tea. Finish: rather short and pretty peppery. Comments: I think it’s a little sad that this baby was bottled at 40% vol. Nose and arrival on the palate were almost top notch, but all the ‘43s’ that we had before beat it after just a few seconds, despite their youth. SGP:352 - 79 points.

And now a few blended malts...

Velvet Fig (46%, Wemyss Malt, blended malt, 6000 bottles, 2014)

A vatting of ex-oloroso malts – hence the figs, I suppose. Colour: deep gold. Nose: indeed! Starts with some shoe polish, bark, leaves and damp earth, before a kind of fairly dry fruitiness kicks in. Around walnuts and very dry raisins. Thuja wood. Some tobacco too, some wood smoke, a little gunflint, and then just touches of dried Christmas fruits indeed. There must be figs! Maybe dried roses as well, pot-pourri… Mouth: pretty excellent despite some pretty obvious newish oak. Spices, pepper, ginger, marmalade, pencil shavings, then Corinthian raisins, black cherries, oranges, mint lozenges and cinnamon mints. Firm, solid, very ‘active’. Not your usual luscious oloroso-ed malt. Finish: long, on spicy fruits. Some kind of chutney – should go well with foie gras. Comments: it might have been some ‘technological’ sherry, but that worked very well in my opinion. SGP:551 - 86 points.

The Lost Blend (46%, Compass Box, blended malt, 12018 bottles, 2014)

A combination of Clynelish, Allt-A-Bhainne and Caol Ila that comes with a story – we’ll spare you the story. Not too sure Allt-A-Bhainne will have much to say in this context ;-). Colour: white wine. Nose: as always, the Islays are singing louder, even louder than Clynelish – despite the fact that Caol Ila’s not the loudest peater up there. In fact it’s really ‘a bonfire on the beach’ as some slightly uninspired bottlers would say. Cut apples, seaweed smoke, sea air, a little butterscotch, then something slightly medicinal. Bandages? Some cough syrup too, and that’s getting bigger by the second. Allt-A-Bhainne? I’m just kidding… Mouth: terrific crystal-clean composition. Lemon balm, chamomile, mint, brine, kippers, riesling, and just a touch of light honey. Allt-A-Bhainne? (S., will you!) Finish: good length. Chiselled, clean, zesty, lemony. Smoked lemon drops. Comments: just excellent. Crystalline, as they say in gemmology. SGP:554 - 87 points.

Timorous Beastie (46.8%, Douglas Laing, blended malt, 2014)

An all-Highlands blended malt that gathers Glen Garioch, Dalmore and Blair Athol. NAS again, naturally. Colour: straw. Nose: another one that worked, apparently. What’s striking is that it does smell of an Highland malt indeed, but I wouldn’t say one distillery’s singing louder than the others. Certainly not Blair Athol. I find cider apples, bitter oranges (Dalmore?), a little shoe polish (Glen Garioch?) and quite a series of wood spices, mixed with a little sour dough, perhaps. And mashed celeriac? Mouth: definitely modern and pretty spicy. Ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves on a base made out of stewed apples and maple syrup. Notes of fresh oak (cinnamon, vanilla). Some peat coming through as well, where does that come from? Finish: long and very spicy. A spice cake rather than a space cake – ha. Comments: a modern composition made with old-skool malts, that’s clever! And to my liking once again. SGP:562 - 85 points.

And now, a little riddle. Could you help me – and the good people at Bar du Nord in Switzerland - finding out about what’s inside this interesting decanter?

Whisky di Malto ‘Cibus’ 1971/1985 (50%, 40 years of Distilleria FALED, Roccabianca, Italy, Scotch malt whisky, 6000 decanters, 50cl)

A very intriguing bottle. According to the abundant literature in the neck booklet, it was distilled in 1971 in Scotland’s extreme north (which doesn’t obligatorily suggest Orkney or Sutherland, mind you), imported to Italy in 1974, matured in a castle near Parma, and bottled by grappa makers Distilleria FALED in 1985 to be launched at an international food fair called Cibus. Phew! Not too sure whether it’s a single or a vatted malt. Colour: white wine. Nose: wait wait wait, this could be a drier Clynelish, or a softer Brora, or a rather peaty Highland Park. Old shoeshine care kit, hessian, gravel, graphite oil, soot, all these sorts of things. Not one ounce of sweetness, or fruitiness. Maybe a little grapefruit skin, that’s all. Mouth: well, the plot thickens. Some fruit come out, and now I’ve got an Ardmore feeling. Sweeter peat, smoked peach syrup, citron liqueur, then more bitter herbal liqueurs (do you know Unicum?), a touch of salt, some lemon… Definitely ‘old Highlands’. What could this be? It also reminds me of the stunning 1973 Clynelishes by Prestonfield/Signatory, only with a little less depth. Finish: long, maybe a tad soapy, but that’s very all right after 30 years in a long-neck decanter. Cough syrup in the aftertaste. Comments: deliciously old Highlands indeed. If you ever know what’s inside, please drop me a line at rulerealwhisky(at)gmail.com, grazzie mille! SGP:374 - 90 points.

That baby did put me in a good mood, we may go on... With some new Japanese blended malts.

Taketsuru 21 yo ‘Non-chill filtered’ (48%, OB, Nikka, pure malt, 80th Anniversary, 2014)

A special release that’s non-chill filtered, at it says on the tin – which implies that the regular Taketsuru 21 is chill filtered, naturally. I really like that one, that’s bottled at 43% instead of 48 here (WF 87). Colour: full gold. Nose: interesting, we’re somewhere between some old cough syrups and turpentine, and some kind of coal smoke – plus triple-sec. And then, I swear I do find a little sake, touches of tinned litchis, macadamia nuts, cigar boxes and a wee mix of tropical fruits. Some kind of dusty mint on top of all that (old mint tea?), which isn’t a flaw at all here. Mouth: excellent. Chocolate mints, lemon balm, amaretti, marzipan, liquorice, blood oranges and again this wee herbal dryness that we found in the nose. Slightly over-infused herbal teas? Lovely smoke. Can you smoke blood oranges? Good, solid body, perfect strength. Finish: quite long, candied, liquoricy and delicately smoky. Bergamots, juicy prunes, then more spices from some rather active oak, as often with the Japanese (and the Scots since a few years). White pepper. Comments: only the oak that’s maybe a tad too ‘obvious’ in the aftertaste will prevent me from going up to 90+. A very complex composition that I find rather smokier than the ‘regular’ 21. Does chill-filtration remove peat? SGP:562 - 89 points.

Yes we’ve also got the ‘Madeira-ised’ variant…

Taketsuru 21 yo ‘Madeira Wood Finish’ (46%, OB, Nikka, pure malt, 80th Anniversary, 2014)

This one bottled at a slightly lower strength. Maybe I should have tried it before the NC! Colour: amber. Nose: I’ve always considered that after sherry, Madeira was the best option wrt finishing a whisky, maybe because Madeira’s usually not uebersweet – yeah, unless it’s sweet malvasia. Nothing like that here, this is ruled by walnuts and flowers, especially peonies and lilac, then tobacco and marzipan. It’s really a whole, not several layers of aromas like often with finishings. After five minutes, more earth, old cellar, old wine barrels, some kind of sweet mushrooms… Oh and I cannot not think of ‘good’ kombucha. Mouth: tastes like full-maturing. That’s good! Some peppery oak, some mustard, a little clay, walnut skins, then bitter lemons and oranges, crystallised zests, leather… Anything but a sweet or winey wine-bomb. More and more spicy oranges after a while. In fact this baby’s very spicy, in a Christmassy way. Strong mulled wine. Finish: long, spicy and fruity at the same time. This is even more ‘Mitteleuropean Christmas’. The aftertaste is a tad too leathery for me, but there… Very winey retro-olfaction, that’s fun, and that comes together with some pineapple. Comments: this very spicy baby just lost two or three points because of the aftertaste, but other than that, this is one my favourite Madeira-finished malts. Not that I have tried thousands of them, mind you. SGP:472 - 86 points.

No duds today! Indeed, when you make great blends (and use great malts in high proportions), blends can be as good as single malts. I know, stating the bleeding obvious…